Gospel
Lessons provides lessons free of charge for teachers and preachers of the New Testament gospel of Jesus Christ. All
articles scripturally represent the New Testament Church of Christ.

Matt 16:18:18

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build
My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
NASB .

2 Tim 2:2-3

"2 And the things you have heard me
say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others."

Matthew 28:19-2019 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
"

I am very careful
when preaching and teaching not to allow political issues to infiltrate the conversation. After all, we don’t come
together as the church to discuss politics, we come together to worship and study God’s Word. Politics has become an
idol, even for many in the Lord’s body, that distracts from God and the church. No matter where you go, politics can
easily become a divisive tool of the devil to put people against each other, and this even happens in the church. And so,
I am always very careful about discussing politics, especially when we have come together to study the Bible.

But
there are some things, Biblical issues that have been disguised as political issues, about which I cannot and will not remain
silent. I grew up in the south, so I am no stranger to racist attitudes that so many in this part of the country still hold,
but I never dreamed that I would see the kind of abominations that have plagued our country in recent weeks. If anything,
I thought for sure that they would get better over time, but they have sadly gotten worse in recent years.

I am not
in the business of deciding or discussing who is to blame for the terrible things that recently took place in Charlottesville,
VA. I am not in the business of deciding whose comments on the events were either too harsh or not harsh enough. I am not
in the business of deciding whether monuments and flags should be left up or taken down. I am not in the business of blaming
any individuals for inciting these violent demonstrations because of what they have said or have not said.

As a Christian
(not as a preacher but as a Christian) I am in the business of loving my neighbor. I am in the business of loving my neighbor
by not repaying evil for evil, but by giving thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all (Rom. 12:17). I am in the
business of loving my neighbor by doing everything within my power to live in harmony and peace with all people (Rom. 12:18).
I am in the business of loving my neighbor by doing no wrong to my neighbor, thus fulfilling the law through love (Rom. 13:10).
I am in the business of loving my neighbor by treating others the way that I want to be treated (Mt. 7:12). I am in the business
of remember the words of Paul in Acts 17:26

"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth"

No matter how you feel about the things that have happened in our nation’s past and
no matter how you feel about those who are currently in the seats of government in our nation, there is no place in the Lord’s church for racism. **Justin Sivley, Evangelist, Orangeburg Church of Christ

Religious people often say: “I don’t go along with everything that my church teaches.”These people usually are sincere and concerned people who question the doctrine or practices of their churches.What does this say about the religious situation today?

First, this statement
says that many churches do not base their beliefs and practices on God’s word.Some members read
and study the Bible for themselves and find out that the Bible does not authorize many of the beliefs and practices of their
specific church.They may also learn that we all are to speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11) and
that none of us must add to or take away from the word of God (Rev. 22:18-19).These folks are between
the proverbial rock and a hard place.Desiring to be loyal to the word of God and finding themselves at
odds with the teaching of their church, they become selective in what they believe, rejecting their church’s teaching
of specific error but staying in their church as a member.

Second, this practice
emphasizes the need to go back to the first century and to New Testament Christianity.The New Testament
reveals what the church was and should be (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 1:22-23 and 5:22-31).By going back beyond
denominationalism to the time when only the Lord’s church existed, we learn God added all Christians to the one church
(Acts 2:47) and only Christians made up the one church (1 Cor. 12:27).When Christianity began, there were
no divisions (John 17:20-21) and no denominations (Eph. 4:4-6).

Third, this practice violates the Bible principle that the church has no authority to formulate doctrine or teaching
(1 Cor. 4:6; Gal. 1:6-9; 1 Tim 3:16-17).No true Christian could say, “I do not believe everything
my church teaches,” because the true church bases beliefs on the inspired word of God and that alone (Jude 3).If we know that a practice is unscriptural, and maintain our fellowship with those that practice it, we violate the
specific teaching of 2 John 9-11: “Whosoever goes onward and abides not in the teaching of Christ, has not God . . .
If any one comes unto you, and brings not this teaching . . .give him no greeting: for he that gives him
greeting partakes in his evil works.”

Finally, this practice keeps people
from being just Christians (1 Peter 4: 16) and belonging to the only church Christ built (Matt. 16:18) and following only
God’s word (Col. 3:17) in name, organization, membership, work, worship, and unity.

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